Stock Market Update

[BRIEFING.COM] The S&P 500 (+0.8%), Nasdaq Composite (+1.1%), and DJIA (+0.8%) trade in a steady range, maintaining their solid opening gains. 

Alphabet (GOOG 261.42, +7.69, +3.03%) is a top mover among the mega-cap names this morning, contributing to a 1.0% gain in the Vanguard Mega Cap Growth ETF and a 1.4% gain in the top-performing communication services sector. 

The final University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment reading for October hit 53.6 (Briefing.com consensus 55.0) versus the preliminary reading of 55.0 and the final reading of 55.1 for September. In the same period a year ago, the index stood at 70.5.

The key takeaway from the report is that the overall sentiment has remained pressured for the third month in a row amid persistently high inflation expectations.